In this section

AN INVENTORY OF
THE ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS
IN NORTH NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Arranged alphabetically by Parishes

1 APETHORPE

(Fig. 17)

Apethorpe is a parish of 723 hectares in
Rockingham Forest, the village lying near Willow
Brook. It incorporates the former village of Hale,
mentioned in Domesday Book and deserted as a
result of the Black Death (RCHM, Northants. I,
Apethorpe (4)); institutions to Hale church
continued long after depopulation, but the parish
was presumably united with Apethorpe in the 15th
century when it fell to the same owner. Apethorpe
in Domesday belonged to the royal vill of
Nassington, and was a chapelry of Nassington until
it was made a separate parish in the 19th century.

In the late 15th century Hale and Apethorpe
were acquired by Sir Guy Wolston, an officer in
the household of Edward IV who amassed an
extensive holding of land in the area; he built a
large house at Apethorpe and probably also rebuilt
the church. His property passed c. 1550 to Sir
Walter Mildmay and from his family to the Fanes,
later Earls of Westmorland. The first Earl rebuilt
much of Apethorpe Hall and also put up a
monument to his father-in-law in the church. The
creation of a major residence at Apethorpe had
important consequences for the village. In 1551
only ten of the 44 tenements in the village were
copyhold, suggesting a large buying-up of property
by Wolston or his successors (NRO, W(A) XVI.5);
by 1773 there were only two, insignificant,
copyholds left (mons. (12) and W. part of (7)). The
Fanes therefore had almost complete control over
parish and village. In 1801 there were still 45
families although in 1673 there seem to have been
62 tenements. A large deer park was created in the
16th and early 17th centuries, incorporating much
of the area of Hale; this was enclosed for farming
in the late 17th century and the hall never had an
extensive landscaped garden. The parish was
enclosed in 1778, and the road from Woodnewton,
hitherto approaching from E. of the church, was
diverted along a former cul-de-sac to its present
route; a group of six tenements S. of the church
was demolished (map in NRO). After acquiring
the Westmorland estate in 1904 Mr. Leonard
Brassey made many alterations to the village,
doubtless changing its character. Many new
picturesque houses and cottages were built, some at
least designed by Traylen of Stamford (Architectural
Review, 41 (1917), 61) and in 1910 the old
Westmorland Arms was replaced by a new public
house named the King's Head. On the sale of the
hall in 1947 a large house called the Manor House
(8) became the seat of Lord Brassey. The remaining
houses in the village are small. Two outlying
houses, Blue Field and Halefield Lodges (13, 15),
may be associated with outlying farms on the
demesne land, while Cheeseman's Lodge (14) was
built for a keeper of the park.

Fig. 17 Apethorpe Village Map

Fig. 18 Apethorpe Church

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of St. Leonard (Fig. 18; Plate 56)
stands at the E. end of the village on the edge of
parkland. It consists of a Chancel, South Chapel, Nave
with North and South Aisles, West Tower with spire, and
South Porch. The walls are mainly of limestone rubble
laid in shallow courses, but those of the S. chapel have
also bands of squared limestone; the tower and spire are
of finely jointed ashlar. The roofs are low-pitched.

The chancel, nave, aisles and porch are all of the late
15th century, but a voussoir with chevron ornament,
built into the N. aisle wall, survives from a 12th-century
building; one monument (no. 5), of the mid 15th
century, also remains. The date of the rebuilding is
unknown but it would be reasonable to suggest that Sir
Guy Wolston, the builder of Apethorpe Hall, was
responsible for the work, soon after he had acquired the
manor in c. 1480. The S. chapel was added in 1621 for
Sir Francis Fane to house the tomb of his parents-in-law,
Sir Anthony Mildmay, d. 1617, and Grace Lady
Mildmay, d. 1620, in accordance with Sir Anthony's will
(PRO, Prob. 11/130). The tower was built in 1633,
almost certainly replacing an earlier tower.

The church is noteworthy for the attention it received
during the early 17th century, principally by the addition
of the Gothic-style S. chapel, enriched with classical wall
decoration in relief and provided with stained glass, to
house the grandiose Mildmay monument. The rebuilding
of the W. tower in fine masonry also exemplifies the
respect paid to Gothic architecture during the 17th
century. The Mildmay monument is one of the largest
and most theatrical of its type in the country.

The church was refitted in the early 18th century. The
seating, which has not survived, was installed from 1735
onwards and consisted of box pews for occupation by
villagers and servants of Apethorpe Hall, and a large W.
gallery for the owners of the Hall. The arrangement and
allocation of seats is recorded in a plan of 1738 (Fig. 13;
NRO, W(A) 4.IX.26, 7.XV). Other fittings included a
reredos, a pulpit supplied in 1736 and a coloured-glass E.
window made in 1732.

Architectural Description – The Chancel has an ogee-moulded plinth, side and diagonal buttresses of two
weathered stages, and plain parapets. Windows on the E.
and N. have four-centred heads and graduated lights, but
the lower part of the E. window has been blocked and
the central mullion removed. In the N.E. angle is a head
corbel which carried a wall post of a former roof. On the
S. is an arcade of 1621 which was inserted when the S.
chapel was added. The arches and piers have quadrant
mouldings with wide fillets, and the capitals have cyma
reversa mouldings (Fig. 19). The chancel arch is of two
plain chamfered orders, the outer continuous, the inner
with moulded capitals and half-round shafts which have
been cut back to terminate as cone-shaped corbels,
presumably to allow for the fittings installed in 1735.
The South Chapel of 1621 is uniform with the chancel but
somewhat higher; the design of the windows is identical
but the jambs of those of the chapel are composed of
vertical stones in contrast to the smaller horizontal stones
of the earlier work. On the W. is an arch of similar
design to the arcade between chancel and chapel. The
upper parts of the interior wall surfaces are elaborately
decorated with limestone panels carved in relief; the
rectangular panels have scroll-pattern frames of varying
designs, some of classical derivation (Fig. 19). Traces of
Biblical texts remain. On the N. below the panels are
wreaths, looped curtains and cherubs' heads. The Nave
has arcades of two chamfered orders, the outer
continuous, the inner carried on half-round shafts with
moulded capitals, and high bases (Fig. 20). The E.
responds have been cut back and now terminate as cone-shaped corbels. The clearstorey has plain parapets and
windows of three trefoil-headed lights in four-centred
heads; the lower parts have been blocked. The North and
South Aisles are uniform with the chancel. The N. and S.
doorways have continuous wave-moulded jambs and
four-centred heads. Set in the N. wall is a 12th-century
voussoir with chevron ornament. Immediately W. of the
porch is a narrow blocked opening of post-medieval
date. The lower parts of some windows have been
blocked.

Fig. 19 Apethorpe Church Mildmay chapel
Decoration of S. wall 1621

Fig. 20 Apethorpe Church Mouldings

The Tower (Plate 56) was built in 1633, the date being
carved in relief above the W. window. It is of three
external stages with an ogee-moulded plinth. The tower
arch is of two orders, the inner chamfered, the outer
wave-moulded; capitals have cyma reversa mouldings
and the bases are roll-moulded (Fig. 20). The rear-arch is
plain. A vice in the N.W. corner has a doorway with a
four-centred head. The W. doorway has a rounded head
and plain jambs, and the W. window above has two
trefoil-headed lights and a semi-circular head. The belfry
windows are each of two pointed lights in a round-headed
opening, all within a rectangular recess. Other small
openings have either square or trefoiled heads. The upper
string course is carved with crudely executed dog-tooth
ornament. On the octagonal spire are two tiers of
lucarnes, the lower of two lights, the upper of one. The
South Porch has an ogee-moulded plinth, diagonal two-stage buttresses and plain parapets with gargoyles carved
as grotesque animals. The E. wall has probably been
rebuilt. The archway has a four-centred head of two
chamfered orders, the outer continuous, the inner with
capitals and half-round responds; above is a niche with
canopy, much decayed. A single-light window in the W.
wall has a pointed head with sunk spandrels, cut from
one stone. Inside are stone benches.

The Roof of the chancel is of three bays with moulded
tie beams, short king posts and staggered purlins; it is
probably a replacement of 1621 when the S. chapel was
built. The roof of the S. chapel is similar to the
foregoing but the king posts are decoratively carved. The
15th-century nave roof has boldly cambered tie beams
with braces to wall posts supported on stone corbels
carved as grotesque demi-figures. The aisle roofs have
cambered tie beams, some moulded, carrying central
purlins, perhaps 17th-century.

Fittings – Bells: four; 1st, inscribed 'John Stot gave this
bell 1629'; 2nd, uninscribed; 3rd, by Thomas Norris,
1671; 4th, inscribed 'Nomen [Magdalenie] Campana
melodie Geret' (VCH, Northants. II, 549). Bell-frame,
braced, 1633, contemporary with tower. Clock: with
lozenge-shaped dial on tower, painted 'IW 1704'; the
Churchwardens' Presentments of 1765 (Lincoln R.O.,
Apethorpe C111/40/1) state that the dial should be new-painted and figured. In 1776–7 the clock had a new dial,
painted by William Briggs for £2.5.0; it was repaired in
1834–5 when Whyles painted and gilded the dial for
£2.10.0. and Beal repaired the works, supplying new
brasses, etc. The clock-frame is inscribed 'IW 1704' on
the top rail. Corbels: two in spandrels of chancel arch, on
W. face, carved as demi-animals, for supporting the rood
beam, 15th-century. Cross shaft: two pieces, one in
W. tower, another set up on a base in churchyard;
incised border and foliage decoration, perhaps 14th-century. Doors: (1), in N. doorway, planks with modern
backing, hinges with U-shaped ends, probably 17th-century; (2) in S. doorway, fielded panels, lock decorated
with quatrefoils and trefoils, 18th-century; (3), to tower
vice, planks, hinges with ogee terminals, 17th-century;
(4), in W. doorway, 17th-century. Font: marble bowl
with gadrooning and floral wreath, baluster stem of
limestone, also with gadrooning, early 18th-century.
Gates: to S. porch, wooden, upper part with grille of
uprights set diagonally and ironwork cresting of spikes
and ovals, early 19th-century.

Glass: in chancel, E. window (1), depicting the Last
Supper, naturalistically portrayed, with shields of arms in
outer lights of Fane impaling Stringer for Thomas 6th
earl of Westmorland and his wife Catherine, with motto
'Ne vile Fano'; the glass is signed in right light 'I. Rowell
Wycomb Bucks Fecit 1732' (Plate 57). In S. chapel, E.
window (2), depicting the Fall of Man, the Crucifixion,
the Resurrection, and the Last Judgement, each scene
with texts and the date 1621 (Plate 62); in the head are
shields of arms of Mildmay impaling Sherington, and
Fane impaling Mildmay. In the second window in the S.
wall (3), 17th-century fragments include arms illustrating
Sir Francis Fane's ancestry through the Despensers; also
shield of arms of Mildmay quartering Sherington and
other alliances. Inscriptions and scratchings: 17th-century
initials on S. chapel arcade; 15th-century masons' marks
on both nave arcades; on E. face of S. porch, 'William
Ireson, 1776'.

Monuments and Floor slabs. Monuments: in chancel – on
E. wall (1), of Rowland Woodward, undated, black
marble panel with pilasters enriched with rosettes, a
crowned skull on the apron and a large cartouche of
arms flanked by obelisks each inscribed 'Dum Descendit
Largitur'; the arms are of Woodward impaling
Grimsdith. The monument, recorded by Bridges in c.
1720, is 17th-century (Plate 65). (2), of John Leigh, 1627,
black marble panel flanked by Ionic columns supporting
a frieze enriched with fruit and flowers, and an inverted
broken pediment on which rest a reclining figure and a
cartouche of arms of Leigh quartered with others (Plate
65). In S. chapel – on E. wall (3), of Maria Fane,
daughter of Lord Burghersh, d. 1837, simple monument
set up by her mother in 1842; additional panels to
Augustus, Lord Burghersh, 1848, and Ernest, Lord
Burghersh, 1851. (4), of John Fane, son of John, Lord
Burghersh, died in Florence in 1816 aged six months,
white marble effigy of infant in bonnet, on mattress and
couch decorated with anthemion ornament (Plate 72).
(5), tomb slab with effigy, formerly on the sill of the
N.W. window in chancel, but now detached in S.
chapel, is said to be of Sir Richard Dalton, d. 1442
(VCH, Northants. II, 549). The figure is in plate armour
with hands in prayer, head on helm with a manticora as
a crest and at the feet; pairs of demi-angels holding
shields flank the effigy. Above is an Annunciation scene
with figures of God, the Virgin Mary beneath a canopy,
and the archangel Gabriel. Small areas of red and green
paint remain, and painted crosses and flowers are
traceable on the background. On three sides is a sloping
marginal fillet, but the right hand side is plain indicating
that the slab was designed to go against a wall (Plate 45).

Apethorpe Hall Ground Floor Plan

In the centre of the chapel (6), is a large marble
monument of Sir Anthony Mildmay, d. 1617, and Grace
his wife, daughter of Sir Henry Sherington, d. 1620. The
monument (Frontispiece, Plate 60) was erected in 1621
by Sir Francis Fane, their son-in-law, and Mary his wife,
in accordance with Sir Anthony's will. It is of grey
veined and black marble and is partly gilded and painted.
Two effigies lie on a black and white marble tomb chest
beneath a baldachino consisting of a shallow dome with a
cupola having round-headed openings in its drum, which
give light to the interior. The baldachino is supported at
each end by a rectangular pier onto which curtains,
hanging from the architrave of the dome, are looped.
Against the piers are standing figures (Plate 61)
representing the four Virtues, and the frieze is inscribed
'Devoute', 'Wise', 'Charitable' and 'Just'; the frieze is also
inscribed 'Chaste' and 'Valiant'. The head of the figure
representing Justice is modern. Seated on the cornice are
smaller figures, on the E. of Faith and on the W. of
Hope; on the cupola dome is a seated figure of Charity.
Crowning the cornice are freestanding cartouches of
arms of Mildmay (N.E. and S.E.) and Sherington (N.W.
and S.W.). Against the cupola drum are shields of arms
of Mildmay impaling Sherington, both quartered with
alliances, and Mildmay quarterly. The W. pier of the
baldachino is inscribed with a record of the setting up of
the monument by Sir Francis Fane in 1621. The tomb
chest is enriched with emblems of mortality and
eulogistically-phrased inscriptions record the lives of Sir
Anthony on the S., and of Lady Grace on the N. The
effigies (Plate 61) lie on rush mats, he in Greenwich
armour, she in full mantle, ruff and head-dress. The
authorship of the monument is not known but the
figures of the four Virtues are in the manner of
Maximilian Colt (cf. Cecil monument, Hatfield,
Hertfordshire); the baldachino may be compared with
that over the tomb of the Countess of Derby at
Harefield, Middlesex, probably also by Colt.

Panelling: in chancel, fielded oak panels, early 18th-century. Pulpit (Plate 66): mahogany, six-sided, two
stages, the lower modern with fielded panels, the upper
with raised shaped panels of walnut, one inlaid with a
sun burst; this is presumably the pulpit supplied by
Wilkinson, joiner in 1736 (NRO, W(A) Misc. 12).
Rainwater heads: four on nave, with cherubs' heads, dated
1735 and 1736 (Plate 68). Reredos: oak, three fielded
panels with shaped and rounded heads, fluted pilasters
and moulded entablature, early 18th-century. Seating: see
Sectional Preface (Fig. 13). Screen: at W. end of nave,
oak, round-headed double doors with panelling of square
and L-shaped panels below symmetrically turned
balusters, and an openwork tympanum of rectangular
pattern; the wings continue the panelling but the
balusters are elongated; probably c. 1633, contemporary
with the tower (Plate 67). Wall-painting: area of red paint
over chancel arch, medieval. Weathercock: probably 1633.

Secular

(2) Apethorpe Hall (Plates 84–87) is a stone-built house
consisting of ranges round two courtyards and standing
in modestly sized gardens S. of the village. The present
house was begun in the late 15th century by Sir Guy
Wolston who acquired Apethorpe in c. 1480. In c. 1550 it
passed by exchange to Sir Walter Mildmay, and in 1617
to Sir Francis Fane who was created Earl of Westmorland
in 1624. He was responsible for much rebuilding. The
7th Earl began, but did not complete, an ambitious
Palladian remodelling in c. 1740. The house remained in
the hands of the Fanes until 1904.

Sir Guy Wolston, the initial builder of the house, rose
in the household of the Dukes of York and thereby
became usher to the King's Chamber to Edward IV.
Three times sheriff of the county, he was made constable
of Fotheringhay Castle in 1464, and was knighted in
1487. He died in 1504 bequeathing his property to his
son-in-law, Thomas Empson, son of Sir Robert
Empson, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who was
attainted in 1510 (Cal. Fine Rolls, Ed. IV and Hen. VI
p. 169, 222; Hen. VII p. 82, 156). In 1515 Apethorpe and
Wolston's other estates in the neighbourhood were
bought by Henry Keble, grocer and Lord Mayor of
London, and by his son-in-law Lord Mountjoy.
Following Keble's death in 1517 Apethorpe was held by
his son George until 1545 when Mountjoy sold it to the
Crown. On its acquisition by Sir Walter Mildmay in c.
1550 the house was once again occupied by a courtier
(VCH, Northants. II, 543). Mildmay's father had risen in
office in the Court of Augmentations; Walter became a
Surveyor General of that court, and eventually Treasurer
of the Household and Chancellor of the Exchequer
(D.N.B.; J.H. Round, Family Origins, p. 60–72). Apart
from Apethorpe, Mildmay had only a London house, in
St. Bartholomew's. When he bought it, Wolston's house
had been enlarged by the Keble family, and Mildmay's
only addition was a new S. range of 1562.

The part of the main range built by Wolston, probably
in c. 1480, consists of the hall with a cross wing to the S.
and service rooms to the N.; the cross wing presumably
contained a large chamber on the first floor (Fig. 21).
The hall oriel fits unconformably against the cross wing
and may therefore be a later addition. Also of later date,
but still in Wolston's time, is a range to the S. of the
cross wing; it is on a slightly different alignment from
the earlier buildings and contained a parlour on the
ground floor. At the same time or soon after a block was
built at the S. end of this parlour together with a range
running westward from the same end. This S. block may
have extended to the E. but would have been curtailed
when the S. range of the E. court was built in 1562. The
hall range now continues northwards to terminate as a
gable on the N. elevation, but it was originally shorter,
the present N. end of the range having originally formed
part of the N. range of the E. court; it was altered in c.
1623 in order to provide a large first-floor room, the Old
Dining Room, on a N.–S. axis. Early in the 16th century
the bay window N. of the porch was built, enlarging the
room behind it and also matching the parlour window in
the opposite corner of the courtyard. Adjacent to the Old
Dining Room, but on the ground floor, is the kitchen
which although remodelled in the early 18th century is
probably original in form. Between the kitchen and the
W. porch of the hall is a two-storey block of the 16th
century, which appears always to have provided access
from the kitchen to the hall by way of a door in the side
of the porch. During the 17th century this block was
heightened and the first floor of the porch extended
westward. A wall about seven feet high, parallel with the
main range and separating it from the W. courtyard, was
built in the early 16th century. Still in the early 16th
century the wall was heightened and a first-floor gallery,
later called the Matted Passage, was built against its E.
face, so by-passing the hall and parlour. Leading off the
passage on the courtyard side was a garderobe. Probably
also part of the original building is the N. range
containing a tall central gateway; to the W. is a pair of
rooms on each floor, with access to a shared turret
projecting on the N. This turret may have been a
garderobe which served lodgings. An early map of the
gardens (NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol 37) shows that a similar
arrangement existed E. of the gateway before that part of
the range was rebuilt as a first-floor library in c. 1740.

Fig. 21 Apethorpe (2) Apethorpe Hall Reconstruction of the main range in the 16th century

By the mid 16th century there was a western
courtyard, but the W. range was originally an isolated
building of c. 1500. This building's first use is uncertain
but it probably included lodgings; it later became a dairy
and wash house etc. The 16th-century N. range was
remodelled in the 17th century with short gabled
projections on the N. and S., that on the S. apparently
providing corridor access in continuation of the Matted
Passage.

The only building which can be attributed to Sir
Walter Mildmay is a range on the S. side of the E.
courtyard, but it was almost totally replaced in 1623 by
Sir Francis Fane. Mildmay's range contained at least one
large first-floor room at the W. end adjoining the earlier
parlour and may have provided a series of state rooms.
Mildmay also added his arms to the spandrels of the
gateway.

On Sir Walter Mildmay's death in 1598 Apethorpe
passed to his son Anthony who died in 1617 leaving the
house to his son-in-law Sir Francis Fane. The Fanes were
minor Kentish landowners, but Sir Francis' father
married Mary Nevill heiress of Lord Abergavenny and
cousin to the Earl of Westmorland, attainted in 1571. Sir
Francis pursued his claim to the earldom which he was
finally granted in 1624 along with the lapsed barony of
Burghersh (G. E. C[ockayne]. Complete Peerage). The
house as improved by Mildmay was adequate for the
entertainment of Elizabeth I in 1566 and of James I in
1605, 1612, 1614, 1616 and 1619 (E. K. Chambers, The
Elizabethan Stage (1923) vol. IV, 83; J. Nichols. The
Progresses . . . of King James I (1828)). The main
occupation during James' visits was hunting; little else
was done during his visit in 1605 and his dogs were sent
in advance of his arrival in 1614. Fane was both wealthy
and ambitious. In about 1620 the park was enlarged by
the addition of 300 acres (125 hectares) of royal forest as
the earlier park was considered too small for James'
enjoyment of the hunt (Cal. SP Dom. (1634–5), p. 421).
In 1622 the King gave Fane 100 trees and permission to
buy 100 more 'at reasonable rates' to enlarge Apethorpe
Hall 'for the more commodious entertainment of his
majesty' (PRO, IND/6746; H.M.C., vol. 39 pt. I,
p. 256). The consequent rebuilding of the S. and E.
ranges of the main court as a suite of state apartments
and a gallery was begun in 1623. Much of the other two
ranges in the E. court were remodelled at the same time.
They were given new roofs, parapets, gables and, in
places, windows, to match the new work. The
rebuilding of the S. range provided a second hall with
adjacent chapel, and gave access not only to the old
parlour in the main range but also to the new suite of
state rooms, clearly intended for the entertainment of the
King, on the first floor. This suite of state rooms
consisted of a chamber, withdrawing room, bedroom,
back stair, a room for the Duke of Buckingham, the
king's favourite, and a long gallery (Fig. 22). The
entrance was surmounted by a statue of James I, the
bedroom was embellished with a hunting scene over the
fireplace and the royal arms decorated the ceiling. These
state rooms contain a notable series of fireplaces
incorporating in the carving iconographical statements
such as the nature of kingship. There is no evidence to
suggest that a 'Queen's side' was intended in the N.
range. On the E. side of the courtyard a range with a
remarkable plan was built: on the ground floor was a
double loggia with a central spine wall, and on the first
floor was a gallery and above it a roof-walk. The range
was doubtless designed for exercise and entertainment.
The external walls were dated 1623, the rainwater heads
1624; the interior decoration was probably finished about
this time. The king, dying in 1624, never saw the
building completed. Sir Francis Fane died in 1629.

Francis Fane's ambition and relatively humble origins
are reflected in the heraldry, seen both in the church and
the house at Apethorpe. Fane arms were seldom used but
he was at pains to stress his Nevill and Despenser
ancestry on his mother's side even before gaining the
(Nevill) earldom of Westmorland. Plaster ceilings in the
state rooms are pageants of Nevill family alliances. The
same attitude was adopted by his son Mildmay, and the
family continued to use the Despenser fret as a badge as
late as 1820.

The second Earl followed a cautious political course
during the Civil War. In 1653 he rebuilt the stables and
added further ornaments to the gatehouse (NRO, W(A)
Misc. Vols. 4, 15). Little appears to have been done to
the house during the late 17th century, but between 1703
and 1720 Thomas, the sixth Earl, made a number of
alterations. In the E. and S. ranges of the E. court he
lowered the sills of many windows, particularly of the
Long Gallery, and installed sash windows elsewhere. In
1718–19 he built the Orangery on the S. side of the W.
courtyard, probably to designs by John Lumley (NRO,
W(A) Misc. Vol. 3; Colvin, Dictionary, p. 529). Whether
or not this replaced an earlier range is not clear.

On inheriting Apethorpe in 1736, John, the seventh
Earl, entered on a scheme of rebuilding on a grandiose
scale. Having already built the Palladian villa of
Mereworth to designs by Colen Campbell, it is not
surprising that he should have commissioned designs in
the same style for the rebuilding of the E. courtyard.
The designs by a follower of Campbell, possibly Roger
Morris, are only known from 19th-century copies
(NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol. 37; Colvin, Dictionary, p. 562).
The proposal was to rebuild the E. range of the
courtyard, part of the N. range and to double the S.
range by the addition of a columned loggia. Both the S.
and E. ranges were to have corner pavilions, central
domes and a rusticated ground stage below a piano nobile.
Of these proposals only the N. block, containing the
library, and a partial remodelling of the S. range were
completed. The plans for these works indicate that it was
always the intention to retain the 17th-century state
rooms in the S. range and the Long Gallery in the E.
range. Considering the extent of the proposed
remodelling this respect for the 'historic' rooms is
somewhat unexpected. The rise in ground to the S.
meant that the loggia and portico would have been on
almost the same level as the earlier, first-floor, state
rooms. The area below these rooms and the gallery on
the E. was to be almost totally occupied by arcades
supporting the piano nobile. In function and partly in
appearance the E. and S. ranges would have become
practically single-storey, the former ground-floor rooms
being entirely sacrificed to the arcades. In the less
ambitious scheme which was adopted, the S. range was
given a new but asymmetrical front facing the court, and
the earlier rooms were supported on an arcade with a
single row of columns. At the same time the White Stair
at the W. end of the range was remodelled, and the
rooms W. of the gatehouse in the N. range were fitted
up. A circular dovecote was built in 1740 (NRO, W(A)
7.XV).

No further work of importance was carried out for a
century until 1846 when the eleventh Earl initiated a
large-scale modernization under Bryan Browning, a
Stamford architect. The Earl died in 1849 and about this
time Bryan Browning was embarking on a final
campaign of alteration. He built the conservatory and
loggia below it on the S. front in 1848–49, and had
replanned the service accommodation, and roofed the
two small courtyards between the hall range and the
Matted Passage by 1851. The White Stair was given a
new staircase, and sundry additions and alterations in the
Jacobean style can be attributed to him (NRO, W(A)
7.XIV; X2898; the plan in VCH Northants. II, opp.
p. 544 shows the house as Bryan Browning left it). In
about 1858 Bryan Browning's son, Edward, altered the
loggia below the Long Gallery in order to create a new
entrance hall. The spine wall was removed and the E.
arcade rebuilt as a solid wall with windows matching
others on this front. The W. arcade was filled with a
glazed wooden screen (NRO, W(A) X2891).

In 1904 the house and estate was sold to Mr. Leonard
Brassey, later Baron Brassey and grandson of Thomas
Brassey, a wealthy railway contractor who died in 1870.
He employed Sir Reginald Blomfield to modernize the
house in keeping with contemporary ideas. In 1904 the
roof of the S. range was heightened and gables added on
the S., to improve accommodation in the attics. The
conservatory built by Browning lost its glazed domed
roof and became an ordinary room. In 1913 the loggia in
the E. range was again altered, a careful reconstruction of
the E. arcade being installed, but the W. arcade was
demolished and rebuilt as a masonry wall incorporating a
curious travesty of the original. Also, a passage was built
against the N. wall of the Orangery. In 1922 the hall was
restored, a ceiling being removed and the roof repaired;
panelling and the lower part of the screen were destroyed
and replaced by new work. A staircase with 17th-century
newels of unknown origin was installed in the E. range.
(Notes by Lord Brassey, 1940; copy at house).

In 1949 conversion of the house to an Approved
School entailed considerable alterations. The Long
Gallery and the Orangery were sub-divided, the library
fittings destroyed and an attrition of fittings and
doorways began. Since 1972 it has been owned by the
County Council. In 1976 a second scheme of
rearrangement was started, resulting in the loss of some
further features including the doorways of c. 1480 in the
cross wing of the hall range. However, the main 17th-century rooms were restored and partitions removed
from the Long Gallery.

Architectural Description – The house is generally of
two storeys, with stone-slated roofs; walls are of coursed
rubble except for the work of 1623, 1718 and c. 1740,
and a certain amount of refacing of early work, which is
of ashlar.

The Main Range (Plate 84) of c. 1480 consists of a hall,
cross wing, parlour and service rooms, with the later
Matted Passage to the W. The E. elevation, originally of
rubble, is now of ashlar. In c. 1623 a uniform parapet
was imposed on this elevation, matching the S. and E.
ranges which were then being built. The mullioned
windows generally have hood moulds and arched heads
to their lights. The Hall is lit by four closely-placed
windows on the E. and originally by six on the W. but
the central ones are blocked by a stack inserted in the
16th or 17th century. The oriel has a plain parapet of c.
1623, transomed lights, miniature buttresses, and external
and internal engaged shafts at the angles. The E. and W.
porches are both of two storeys, with diagonal
buttresses; each is entered by a double-chamfered four-centred arch, and protects a similar doorway into the
hall. The E. porch has above the entrance a blank shield
on a quatre-foiled panel; the window above is an 18th-century replacement with two round-headed lights
within an ogee-moulded architrave. The side wall is
rubble, rendered, with a first-floor blocked loop. The W.
porch was similar, but has been incorporated in later
work. Internally, the hall has two doors in the N. wall,
one four-centred, one blocked. The 17th-century
fireplace has a four-centred head within a rectangular
frame below a stone shelf; two inscribed plaques above
were removed c. 1940. The four-bay roof is original and
has five trusses each with a cambered arch-braced collar,
curved raking struts, two tiers of butt-purlins, a ridge
piece and three tiers of wind-braces. Arch braces and
purlins are hollow-chamfered. The end trusses spring
from 17th-century stone scroll corbels; the other trusses
have inserted tiebeams. The later, 17th-century, panelling
was removed in 1922, leaving only the heavy turned
balusters and the massive rail of the gallery. The gallery
is reached by a 17th-century doorway on the N., and a
16th-century chamfered doorway leads from it to the
room over the E. porch. The E. ground-floor doorway
has a late 15th-century traceried door. The glass in the
oriel was designed by Edward Browning in 1856 and has
been mutilated (NRO, W(A) 7.XIV).

The Cross Wing is reached by a moulded doorway in
the S. wall of the hall. The ground floor is in three
compartments. In the E. compartment a passage between
the hall and parlour has moulded doorways and is lit by
a four-light, king-mullioned, window with floral stops to
the label; a circular rib descends from the label, down the
king mullion and through the plinth to the ground. The
central compartment has chamfered doorways to the
passage and parlour, but the latter is blocked; a 17th-century oval window gives borrowed light from the E.
There is an original two-light window on the S.; the W.
room, lit by a loop on the S., is entered by doorways in
the E. and W. walls, but their chamfered surrounds of
the 15th-century were destroyed in 1978. The first floor
is lit by a four-light window on the S.; the two rooms
were fitted out by Bryan Browning in 1850. The roof,
installed in c. 1624, has clasped purlins and collars to
alternate rafters with solid braces forming the framework
for a plaster barrel ceiling; the present flat ceiling was
added in 1850. The gable of c. 1624 has a blind three-light window. The parapeted W. gable has a stack,
possibly 18th-century. Against this W. gable is a
narrower, two-storey extension, now incorporated in the
Matted Passage.

Apethorpe Hall First Floor Plan

The Parlour, so named in 1691 (NRO, W(A) XII.6) is
on a slightly different alignment from the E. wall of the
cross wing, suggesting that it may be an early addition.
On the E. it has a two-storey canted bay window with a
plinth at a higher level and of different moulding from
the rest of the range, indicating that this is a 16th-century
addition; the ground-floor lights differ in detail from the
upper, and originally had transoms. On the W. wall was
a second canted bay window, of which only the S. jamb
remains, concealed; it was transomed on the ground
stage. To the N. of this window is a stair turret in the
angle against the cross wing; it has been removed on the
ground floor but the chamfered doorway from the
parlour, and on the first floor its rubble walls with an
embattled parapet, survive. Immediately S. of the oriel is
a stack, probably 18th-century in its present form. The
roof, of c. 1624, resembles that of the cross wing, and
part of the barrel ceiling remains. The first-floor rooms
were refitted c. 1850 and the ground floor altered in
1978.

To the W. of the parlour is a wing presumably of
slightly later date; in 1858 it included the Steward's
Room on the ground floor. In the S. wall windows
include two 18th-century sashes with eared architraves,
and an early 17th-century one-light window. The
interior has been gutted since 1858, when an internal
stack was removed. The roof is in two parts. That on
the W. is much rebuilt but is probably 16th-century in
origin; one truss has an uncambered collar clasping
purlins and, originally, narrow arch braces. The E.
section is of c. 1624, alternate pairs of rafters having
braced cambered collars for a barrel ceiling.

To the S. of the parlour is a short range whose
asymmetrical roof, on an E.–W. axis suggests that it may
be the W. end of a wider range now demolished. The
room is lit by a mid 19th-century bay window. In the
W. wall is a blocked 16th-century doorway and at attic
level are two mullioned windows, probably reset. The
stair is approached on the S. by a chamfered 16th-century doorway; beside it is a contemporaneous two-light moulded window. Above is an early 18th-century
window with eared architrave and unmoulded stone
mullion and transom. Internally the stair has a wooden
octagonal newel and rises to the attic where it is integral
with the timber-frame partition wall; here the door has a
rectangular stop-chamfered frame and is early 17th-century. The roof has its ridge nearer the N. wall and
incorporates 16th-century rafters laid flat.

To the W. of the hall and parlour is the Matted Passage
which runs parallel with the main range at first floor to
reach the parlour cross wing. It is of 16th-century origin
and retains some early floor joists. The W. wall, of
masonry, is of two periods. The lower part, about 7 ft.
(2.1 m.) high, retains some coping at the N. end and has
two wide chamfered doorways, one opposite the hall
porch, and one opposite a similar door to the cross wing.
Rising above this is the contemporaneous gable of a
short, lower and narrower extension of the cross wing,
having a parapeted gable with a finial on the N. side, a
loop, and at first-floor level, a stack added in 1851. It
may have been a garderobe originally. The later, upper,
part of the wall is also early 16th-century; the N. half has
two two-light windows but in the S. half all windows
are 19th-century or modern. Near the centre is a two-storey gabled projection originally containing a
garderobe reached from the Matted Passage; it was
extended S. in the 19th century and now contains a
staircase. On the first floor is a 17th-century two-light
window flanked by two triangular headed loops with
chamfered surrounds, now blocked. Two galleries which
run at first floor along the parlour cross wing and
parlour link the Matted Passage to the former stair turret
W. of the parlour. The date of these galleries is
uncertain; all are timber-framed, part is hung with stone
slates, and part is pargetted in imitation of wide-pointed
ashlar, probably 18th-century. At the N. end of the
Matted Passage is a twin-gabled block of three storeys
incorporating the original hall porch and extending N. to
the kitchen. To the S. of the porch is a short length of
wall added against the buttress; it contains a chamfered
doorway above which are two large corbels supporting a
chamfered shelf. On the first floor is a 17th-century
doorway with four-centred head in a rectangular frame
leading to the enlarged room over the porch. The upper
rooms were refitted in the 19th century.

The main range originally continued N. of the hall to
contain a service room before it met the N. range, but
this room was extended to the E. in the late 16th-century. It has a substantial axial ceiling beam; on the
line of the original E. wall is a thinner beam the N. end
of which rests on a corbel. The new E. wall has a
moulded plinth and canted two-storey bay window with
transoms on the ground stage; at first floor the window
is continued for a further two lights on one side of the
bay. Below, in the plinth, is a two-light chamfered
window serving the cellar. The parapet is of c. 1623 and
the additional area of the room has a flat leaded roof.
Inside, is a reset 17th-century staircase with turned
balusters. The room to the N. of the original service
room is structurally part of the N. range, but the whole
area N. of the hall was re-roofed in c. 1623 in line with
the main range; on the first floor a single room was
formed and became known from at least 1691 as the Old
Dining Room. The room has a plaster barrel ceiling with
a much restored 18th-century wooden cornice. In the S.
wall, and now in the separate passage, is an early 17th-century doorway with four-centred head in a rectangular
frame, leading to the hall gallery. The fireplace (Plate 90)
at the N. end of the W. wall, set centrally within the
former N. range, has a 17th-century plaster overmantel
with a strapwork frieze supporting three armless terms
with Ionic capitals, separating two round-headed arches
containing coats of arms on strapwork panels. The
shields are of Sir Frances Fane and his family alliances
(Fane, Nevill of Abergavenny, Nevill of Bulmer,
Despenser, Beauchamp, Warren, Clare and Nevill) and of
his wife (Mildmay quartering Sherington). The stone
fireplace surround is of c. 1740. The overmantel, and so
perhaps the room itself, thus belongs to the time of
Frances Fane, owner from 1617 to 1628.

The Kitchen is a single-storey block, wider than the
adjacent ranges. The N. wall is straight-jointed against
the N. range in the N.E. corner, suggesting extension or
rebuilding; on the W. wall the parapet of c. 1623 can be
seen to be an addition to a building originally with eaves.
It is lit by three tall windows with late 17th or early
18th-century wooden frames; only the upper parts of the
jambs have freestone dressings as the sills were lowered
in c. 1700. Internally no fittings remain and the large
fireplace on the E. wall is obscured. The roof is of the
18th century with butt-purlins.

The remainder of the N. range of the W. court is of
16th-century origin, much altered in the 17th century. It
has three 17th-century gabled projections on the N. and
a passage on the S., constructed in the 17th century but
altered by Bryan Browning in the mid 19th century. The
windows are mostly 19th-century except for one, in the
central gabled projection, of two lights and with a
rounded head. No internal fittings earlier than the 18th
century remain.

The North Range consists of a central gateway of the
late 15th century, a range of the same date to the W. and
an 18th-century range containing the library to the E.
(Plate 86). The gateway of three storeys consists of a
single entrance passage with rooms above, and a stair
turret. The archways are of similar profile; the N. arch,
rebated for a gate, has continuous mouldings and is set
within a rectangular frame with traceried spandrels.
Above are windows of two and three lights. Added to
each spandrel is a coat of arms within strapwork, on the
E. of Mildmay, on the W. of Walsingham and alliances,
for Sir Walter Mildmay, who doubtless added the arms,
and Mary his wife. The other embellishments were
added by Mildmay Fane, second Earl of Westmorland in
1653. To W. of the gate is a pedestal with vermiculated
rustication and a round-headed niche surmounted by a
griffin holding a fret, a supporter of Despenser. A similar
pedestal, presumably with a bull, another supporter, was
removed c. 1740 when the library was built. Above the
gate is a mantled coat of arms with a coronet of
Mildmay Fane and his second wife Mary de Vere,
flanked by cornucopiae. The sill of the first-floor
window is ornamented with two horizontal scrolls, the
jambs with husks; on the top is a vermiculated pedestal
flanked by scrolls and above are two cherubs holding a
laurel wreath. Two palms flank the inscription '1653
PACE ET AMORE SUUM PALMA CORONAT
OPVS'. On the S. the arch has chamfered jambs and
moulded head, and above is a canted oriel supported on
moulded corbelling and with a weathered stone roof;
below the lights are panels with cusped saltires. The
upper window is of two lights. The octagonal stair turret
has a chamfered doorway with sunk spandrels; two
moulded string-courses correspond with the floor levels
of the gateway, and the stair is lit by loops. The turret
and the tower have parapets of c. 1624 with finials, and
the stair turret has a contemporary lead-covered ogee cap
with wooden finial. On the S. face of the turret is a
square sundial, perhaps 18th-century. The gate passage
has a panelled ceiling of moulded wood ribs; openings in
the walls are modern. On the first floor the Canopy
Room, so called in 1838, has a quadripartite vault of
uncertain date; the oriel is flanked by door recesses with
continuous mouldings. The room above, called the
Evidence Room in 1892, has a chamfered doorway with
an early 19th-century plate-iron door; the fireplace has a
four-centred head in a rectangular frame. The stair has
mainly stone treads, some pierced for a bell rope. The
cupola is formed on thin deep ribs and a central post, on
a substantial framework.

The range W. of the gateway is also late 15th-century
and survives in altered form. The S. elevation is in four
bays reflecting the two rooms inside; jambs of an original
upper window remain. The ground-floor windows are
square with wooden mullion-and-transom frames of
c. 1700 and stone cornices. The first-floor windows have
early 19th-century sashes. One has a length of fluted
lintel of c. 1624 reset upside down, suggesting
refenestration of the whole elevation when the parapet
was built with finials; the shaped near-central gable has a
blind three-light window. The N. elevation encompasses
the two rooms of this range and the gable of the Old
Dining Room. A projection, probably a garderobe of the
16th-century has at first floor a blocked window, perhaps
of the 17th century, and two 18th-century windows. It
was extended a short distance to the W. before 1623; in
this extension is a blocked loop at first floor. To the E.
of the projection is a wide stack weathered on one side
only, with a single flue. A twin-flue stack rises behind
the garderobe projection, W. of which are three
dissimilar 16th-century windows and a pilaster buttress;
above are two 18th-century sash windows. Beneath the
Old Dining Room gable are two tall sashes with ogee-moulded arrises; the sash frames were installed in 1716
(NRO, W(A) Misc. 3) and the openings may have been
lengthened at that time; between them is a vertical strip
of flush ashlar rising to the string of 1623 which is
returned above these two windows. The shaped gable
has a central blind oval window with ogee-moulded
surround. Both the gable and the parapet have finials and
date from c. 1623. Internally the range has two rooms on
each floor, the first-floor rooms having panelling in two
heights of the early 18th-century, perhaps before 1736. A
lobby at the W. end of the suite of upper rooms has on
the S. a round-headed arch with key block. The roof,
divided by the masonry party wall, has principal rafters
which diminish above clasped purlins, arch-braced
collars, and wind-braces. Each roof has two bays flanked
by half-bays; the W. roof has been remodelled and has a
ridge-purlin. The scar for a cambered ceiling survives.

That part of the N. range E. of the gateway was
rebuilt in c. 1740 in brick faced in stone as part of the
seventh Earl's remodelling programme. The S. elevation
(Plate 86) in the Roman Doric style, in four bays, has a
heavily rusticated ground stage with almost square sash
windows; the first floor has tall windows with
continuous sills, pulvinated friezes and bold cornices; the
wall is crowned by a shallow architrave, frieze with
triglyphs and an overhanging cornice without a parapet.
The N. elevation is of coursed rubble with freestone
dressings, the windows having unmoulded projecting
architraves. The ground-floor windows are almost
square; above a platband are two tall windows flanked on
either side by two square windows, one above the other.
On two rainwater heads are frets and the date 1818.
Internally the ground-floor rooms have 18th-century
cornices and the central room has an 18th-century stone
fireplace with shelf. On the first floor was the library; in
the centre of the N. wall was a Palladian fireplace with
Ionic columns supporting an entablature whose central
tablet was surmounted by a small pediment; above,
enriched pilasters, frieze and broken pediment framed a
central circular clock face formed of some type of inlay.
The ceiling was cambered and possibly coffered and had
an enriched dentil cornice with pulvinated frieze.
Recesses at each end of the room were flanked by doors,
one at each end leading to closets. All the fittings of this
room were destroyed in 1949.

The E. end of the range incorporates a 17th-century
staircase and its associated walls retained from the earlier
range on the site. The staircase (Plate 91) has
symmetrical turned balusters, and at the top a landing
with heavy turned newels and pendants, gives access to
the attics in the E. range. Surviving above the flat roof
over the Long Gallery is the N.E. corner of the parapet
which had been added in c. 1623 to the 15th-century
range.

The South Range has a ground-floor undercroft now
sub-divided, and on the first floor a suite of state rooms
of c. 1623. The N. elevation (Plate 87) of ashlar, dates
from c. 1740, the original design envisaging a further bay
to the W. to create symmetry. The front is in ten bays,
the central three breaking forward under a pediment
supported on engaged Roman Doric columns which rise
from a first-floor platband. The design is generally the
same as that of the range on the N. side of the
courtyard, E. of the gateway, except that the windows
between the columns have alternate straight and curved
pediments; also, the central metopes are carved with
crests of Cavendish (a serpent nowed) and Nevill (out of
a ducal coronet a bull's head), and on the cornice is a
parapet. At the E. end the cornice has return mouldings
for the unexecuted refacing of the adjoining E. range.

The S. elevation is partly masked by Bryan
Browning's conservatory of 1848; this is of three bays
with mullion-and-transomed windows, and stands on an
arcade of round arches on solid piers; the passage to the
W. has smaller windows and round arches on columns.
Browning's half-domed glazed roof was replaced by a
flat roof and balustrade in 1904, and at the same time a
second storey with gables was added to the S. front. The
two stacks originally had two flues each, a third being
added in 1904. The W. stack has octagonal flues and a
high-level plinth which is continued W. as far as the E.
stack: this work is presumably of c. 1562. To the E. the
plinth is lower and of a different moulding. At the E.
end is a projection with a canted bay window; the
architectural details of this and the adjoining window are
of c. 1623 and originally these windows lit the chapel.
The first-floor window sills were all lowered in the early
18th-century. Internally the ground floor was formerly a
flagged area with a row of square columns supporting
plastered beams, all of c. 1740, but this arrangement has
been destroyed recently. At either end is a heavily
rusticated doorway. A room, the New Dining Room,
was created at the E. end in 1876 (NRO, W(A) X2886).
In 1892 this room was described as having a 13th-century
fireplace moved here from the W. range of the W.
courtyard (Sale Catalogue); this is presumably the
fireplace engraved in Dollman and Jobbins, Ancient
Domestick Architecture (1858) and now lost.

At the W. end is the White Stair; the present
cantilevered stone stair is of c. 1848 by Bryan Browning,
a rearrangement allowing access to his new servery next
to the conservatory. It has stone treads and a plain
ramped handrail. Some of the decorative plasterwork of
c. 1740 remains; the stair then rose along the E. wall to a
half-landing against the S. wall. There are recessed
plaster panels below the line of the original stair, and
panels with eared architraves above; the central panel on
the S. wall has floral swags and a central mask. Narrow
flanking panels have long garlands. Cornices below the
landings and ceilings are enriched and dentilled. The
first-floor wooden door-frames have pulvinated friezes
and dentilled cornices. The ceiling is modern.

On the first floor is a suite of state rooms, of 1623,
beginning at the W. end. The Great Dining Room, so
called in 1691 but called New Great Chamber in 1629
(NRO, W(A) 6V. 142(a); XII.6), has a fireplace of 1562
(Plate 90) and presumably originated in a building by Sir
Walter Mildmay. This clunch fireplace reaches to the
ceiling. The rectangular opening and its flanking
pilasters, decorated with sunk panels and roundels, have
Ionic capitals; from the entablature rise two pairs of
quasi-Ionic pilasters, the outer tapered and fluted, the
inner with guilloche panels. Incorporated in the design
are a crest of Mildmay (a greyhound's head) and initials,
a lover's knot and motto of Walter Mildmay, and the
arms of Mildmay and his wife (Walsingham); on the
frieze are the initials W and M. The central strapwork
panel within a bolection frame is inscribed with a six-line
Latin verse with a play on the Mildmay motto, Virtute
non vi, and the date 1562. The coved ceiling is decorated
with strapwork between broad foliage-enriched ribs; in
the pattern are several crests of Nevill, Despenser,
Manners, Mildmay, and Fane; in c. 1740 a knotted
serpent, for Cavendish, was added. Along the centre are
three coats of arms on strapwork panels, for Fane
impaling Mildmay, Fane impaling Nevill (Plate 92) and
Nevill impaling Manners. Around the room is an
enriched plaster cornice of c. 1740.

The Drawing Room, so called in 1691 but called the
Best Drawing Chamber in 1629, has 17th-century
scratch-moulded panelling in six heights and a cutwork
frieze of uncertain date. The fireplace (Plate 88) is of
oolite with black marble insets. Two Ionic columns
flanking the rectangular opening are encircled by crowns;
between them is a panel carved with an open book
flanked by two arms issuing from clouds, one arm
holding a sword, the other a sceptre. Above an
entablature are two pedestals supporting statues in niches;
one holds an anchor-stock, the other, now missing, held
a book and a cylindrical object. Between is a shaped
panel containing a bas-relief of the Sacrifice of Isaac
(Plate 89). On either side of the fireplace is a four-light
mullion-and-transom window, the W. being broken
through to provide access to the conservatory in 1848.
The coved ceiling has a fretwork of broad plain ribs
decorated with paterae, enclosing crests and coats of
arms on strapwork. The arms are Nevill of Abergavenny
impaling Fenn; Nevill of Abergavenny impaling
Beauchamp; Beauchamp impaling Despenser; Beauchamp
impaling Nevill of Essex. The crests are of Despenser,
Nevill, Beauchamp and Fenn.

The King's Room, called King's Chamber in 1629 and
1691 and King's Bedroom in 1762 (NRO, W(A) 7–XV)
has 17th-century panelling in six heights and a plain
frieze. The ceiling (Plate 92) has a central deep cove,
flanked by two flats on the N. and S. with plain
geometrical ribbed decoration. The cove is ornamented
with strapwork and in the centre is a large panel
containing the Stuart Royal Arms with supporters and
crest. The fireplace (Plate 88) of fine oolite has black
marble insets; the supporting columns are probably of
Alwalton Marble, their Ionic capitals of limestone.
Below the pulvinated frieze is a bas-relief of a deer-hunting scene (Plate 90). Above the frieze, two terms
hold back the drapery of a canopy to reveal allegorical
figures of Peace and War, the one holding an olive
branch, the other a sword; above hovers a cherub
holding a crown (Plate 89). Beside War is a lion with a
damaged figure said to be a lamb; beside Peace, a group,
now lost, was said to be of a child and a cockatrice
(NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol. 37).

The East Range (Plate 85) of two storeys and attics,
was built entirely by Frances Fane in 1623. The walls are
of ashlar and the elevations are symmetrical; on each
storey the mullion-and-transom windows have straight
hood-moulds surmounted by a fluted band, and above is a
moulded string which encircles the whole range,
breaking forward over the windows. The parapet rises
above a cavetto string, and is interrupted by panelled dies
supporting finials. The shaped gables with finials contain
untransomed windows decorated as those below.

The E. elevation is divided by two chimneys each with
twin stacks; with the exception of the middle ground-floor part, each section has a two-light window flanked
by two four-light windows on each floor, and the
parapet is surmounted by gables in the centre and at each
end. On the S. the plinth rises above blocked cellar
windows. The ground stage in the centre was originally
a five-bay arcade of which the central arch survives with
jewelled keystone and plain fielded spandrels. In 1859 E.
Browning replaced the arcade by a wall with mullioned
windows; this was removed and the original arrangement
reconstructed by Blomfield in 1913. The central porch
has plain pilasters, two pairs of Roman Doric columns in
Northampton Sand Ironstone, a frieze with irregular-spaced triglyphs and rosettes, and a balustrade with
symmetrical balusters surmounted by a female bust. The
first-floor window sills were lowered in 1703. Three lead
rainwater heads bear the date 1624. On the roof are 18th-century gabled dormers. The N. and S. elevations are
similar, having two-storey bay windows; the N. bay
window is three-lights tall, the string of the parapet
returning over the window. The first-floor sills on the S.
were lowered in 1703. On the S. the return on the W.
has a twin-flue stack, blocked windows, and a door with
four-centred head.

The W. elevation, to the courtyard, is also
symmetrical. The end bays break forward slightly to
flank the nine-bay arcade; on the first floor the pattern of
four and two-light windows is repeated on either side of
the two-storeyed porch, and the parapet is crowned by
three gables each with a blind three-light window. The
flanking bays have a high plinth in three stages
incorporating a row of quatre-foiled circles apparently of
1623. The moulded plinth returns in order to meet that
of the now-demolished adjoining wings; on the N. the
returns are also visible on the string courses, while on
the S. is a straight-joint just short of the corner of the
courtyard. The original arcade was destroyed in 1913
when Blomfield designed the present replacement.
Formerly there were round half-columns against piers
supporting round arches with jewelled keystones and
plain fielded spandrels. Only the central arch remains.
The frieze, with alternate squares and circles, survives,
and is continued round the porch. The porch has paired
pilasters against the range, and two pairs of Doric
columns of Northampton Sand Ironstone on panelled
pedestals. Within the reveals of the arch are the scars of
two round-headed niches, filled by Browning in 1859. On
the first floor is a six-light window; in the parapet is a
coat of arms and crests of Despenser impaling Mildmay
surmounted by a panel inscribed '1623'. Internally the
ground stage originally consisted of two unequal loggias
flanked by rooms. The loggias were separated by a spine
wall, in which were round-headed niches, eleven on the
W. and four on the E., and two more flanking each
central opening (plan in VCH). Access to the room on
the S. was by round-headed doors with jewelled
keystones and flanking pilasters supporting an
entablature. There was probably a similar door at the N.
end of each loggia. The spine wall was removed by
Browning in 1859 when he made the loggias into an
entrance hall, blocking the W. arcade with a glazed
timber partition. The S. doors were removed by
Blomfield in 1913, when he replanned the entrance hall.
The rooms to the N. have been rearranged: the N.
room, called the White Bedroom in 1892, has an early
18th-century wooden fireplace surround.

To the S. there is a cellar of five unequal bays with an
elliptical vault and chamfered ribs rising from pilasters
with chamfered capitals and bases. There are jewelled
bosses at the intersections with the axial rib. Two
windows high in the E. wall are accommodated in cross-vaults. On the ground floor were two rooms separated
by a stair. The N. room, called the Tapestry Hall in
1892, now contains the staircase incorporating reused
early 17th-century newels (Plate 91) installed by Mr.
Brassey in 1922; the S. room, called the Despenser Room
in 1838 (NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol. 37), has damaged and
restored early 17th-century panelling in four heights. The
fireplace has a stone four-centred head in a rectangular
frame, and a wooden overmantel, heavily restored, with
four attached columns supporting a cutwork frieze and
flanking two panels each containing a fret for Despenser
in wood inlay. The intervening stair has been removed
on the ground floor.

On the first floor the S. room was called the Prince's
Room in 1892 but was the Duke's Chamber in 1629 and
the Duke's Room in 1691 and 1762. Both names derive
from the iconography of the fireplace (Plate 88) which is
of fine oolite with black marble insets. Two pilasters
support an entablature and a broken pediment. Between
the pilasters is a panel carved with a heart-shaped shield
surrounded by strapwork and bearing three ostrich
feathers issuing from a crown; flanking this are two
arms, one bearing an anchor, the other a ducal coronet.
On the slopes of the broken pediment were two reclining
figures, with a trumpet and a wreath; both have been
lost since 1909. Within the open pediment is a marble
inset above which rises a pedimented slab carved with an
armed ship in full sail (Plate 89). The fireplace is held,
plausibly, to refer to the voyage made to Spain in 1623
by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham in
order to negotiate a marriage between the Prince and the
Infanta. The room was probably intended for occupation
by the Duke of Buckingham, the King's favourite. The
room has a flat ceiling with strapwork and small
pendants between broad ribs ornamented with bunches
of grapes. Below the dentilled cornice is a deep frieze
with strapwork incorporating demi-figures, a defaced
coat of arms, and the bull and griffin crests of Despenser
(Plate 93). To the N. of this room is a stair incorporating
some 18th-century work. The Oak Stair occupies the site
of the King's Closet but dates from 1922 as does the
ceiling above. Of the two doors from here to the Gallery
only that on the W. is original.

Fig. 23 Apethorpe (2) Apethorpe Hall Plan of the house and gardens in the early 18th century taken
from early 19th-century copy (NRO, W(A) Misc. vol. 37)

The Long Gallery has early 17th-century panelling in
seven heights and a jewelled cutwork frieze (Plate 91).
Each window is flanked by fluted Corinthian pilasters
with jewelled bases and a grotesque mask at frieze level.
Two further pilasters' are set asymmetrically on the S.
wall. The ceiling has a geometrical pattern of crosses and
octagons defined by narrow ribs. The fireplace (Plate 88)
is of fine oolite with black marble insets: two Ionic
columns support an entablature and broken pediment out
of which rises a statue in a niche flanked by figures and
columns. Below the entablature two demi-females
holding pendant bunches of fruit, support a marble slab
inscribed:

Rare, and ever to be wisht maye sownde heere
Instruments wch faint sp'rites and muses cheere
Composing for the body, soule and eare
Which sicknes, sadnes and foule spirits feare.

Out of the broken pediment rises a round-headed niche
with cherubs in the spandrels, containing a statue of
King David playing a harp. Reclining on the slopes of
the broken pediment are two female figures, one holding
a pair of scales, the other a drum (?). Above them in low
relief is a severed male head and a sword (for Goliath),
and a sling and pouch. Flanking this upper stage and
supporting the final entablature are two composite
columns each encircled by a wreath of fruits.

The roof is asymmetrical, with knee-rafters on the E.
side to make space for a parapet walk; the angles of the
knee-rafters are strengthened by brackets, and there are
butt-purlins and collars. The roof does not cover the full
length of the range; the attic walls are timber-framed and
there is a wooden ovolo-moulded three-light window on
the N. wall. The two large areas of lead flats on the N.
and S. form a promenade linked by the parapet walk
which passes beneath small roofs behind the gables on
the E. wall, so providing shelter. On the rear face of
each gable are two round-headed recesses or seats (Plate
86).

The Orangery (Plate 87) was built in 1718–19; the
design may be by John Lumley, who was described as
the Earl of Westmorland's 'overseer' at Apethorpe when
employed at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1719
(Colvin, Dictionary, p. 529); the principal freemason was
John Dimbleby who also provided much freestone and
the joiner was Thomas Blowfield (NRO, W(A) Misc.
Vol. 3). In 1913 a ground-floor passage was built against
the N. wall, and perhaps about this time an internal first-floor passage was constructed. In 1949 it was divided
into two storeys and the windows destroyed. The S.
wall, faced in ashlar, is of nine bays having tall windows,
originally with wooden sashes, and plain architraves; the
central window served as a door. Above a cornice is a
panelled parapet with small urns. The N. wall of rubble
has modern openings, but originally it was blind, save
for a door at each end. The roof is stone slated with a
broad central lead flat.

The West Range in the W. courtyard (Plate 84) is of
two storeys, of coursed rubble and early 16th-century
origin. The gables are parapeted, their apex finials having
gablets. The E. elevation has an original door with
pyramid stops to its continuous chamfer, and to the S. is
a two-light window without hood-mould. Four of the
five first-floor windows are original and similar. Apart
from two 17th-century three-light windows on the
ground floor, all other openings are modern. The roof,
formerly open to the first-floor rooms, is partly
inaccessible; there are butt-purlins and unchamfered arch
braces to cambered collars. There seems to have been a
large first-floor room at the S. end.

Gardens and Deer Park. Although gardens were created
in the 16th and 17th centuries, no attempt was made to
create a landscaped park or garden until 1908 when
Blomfield designed the present lake. John Byng in 1790
noted 'open cornfields opposite without a tree planted; a
river running thro' a rushy morass, and a ruinous mill'
(Torrington Diaries (1935), II, p. 248). The layout of the
gardens in the early 18th century is shown on a drawing
of 1721 and an undated plan (Country Life, 20 March
1909, 416; (Fig. 23), NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol. 37) and
much of this can still be traced. The land rises to the S.,
and on this side, centred on the range of 1623, was a
square 'Bowling Green' flanked by parterres called
'flower gardens' and overlooked from the W. by a
garden house. Semicircular steps led up from the
bowling green to a terrace running along the S. side of
these gardens; beyond was a broad 'Walk ornamented
with statues', flanked by yews which still survive, and
separating two more parterres on the W. and E. The W.
boundary wall, of brick, dates from 1714 (NRO, W (A)
Misc. Vol. 5). To the E. of the Gallery range lay the
Gravel Garden, now overlain by Blomfield's entrance
court of 1908. This was clearly the Privy Garden and
was enclosed by walls and had walks on three sides
terminating in the E. corners in pyramidal-roofed
pavilions. A moat with an island and a 'Wilderness' in
the midst of whose trees stood an urn on a pedestal,
stood to the E. but both have vanished.

The deer park is first mentioned in 1543, by which
time it was enclosed by wall and pale and stocked with
fallow deer (NRO, W(A) I.XII–14; 4.XVI–5). Nearby in
the S. of the parish was a freehay where the owner had
hunting rights, on the site of the village of Hale, and
which seems to have become united with the park by
1575 (NRO, W(A) 7.XV). In 1620 Frances Fane received
by exchange from the king 14 acres in Morehay which
had already been taken into Apethorpe Red Deer Park
(PRO, IND/6746). Presumably therefore it was about
this time that James I gave Fane verbal permission to
enlarge Apethorpe Park by enclosing 300 acres (125
hectares) of royal forest because the original park was not
large enough for James' enjoyment of the hunt (Cal. S.
P. Dom. (1634–5) p. 241; NRO, W(A) 4. VIII–3; 2.XIII–
4). The Great Pond, probably an original feature of the
park, had boats on it in 1659. There was a deer-lodge
which by 1700 had been converted to a barn, and the
place-name Kingstanding points to a stand on the hill
presumably in the early 17th century (NRO, W(A)
6.XII; Misc. Vols. 4 and 5). Both cattle and deer grazed
the park in 1679, and a survey of 1715 probably preceded
the conversion of the park to agricultural use (NRO,
W(A) 6. VI.2; Misc. Vol. 5).

Stables. To N.E. of the house are two predominantly
two-storey ranges at right angles to each other affording
stabling, a tack room and a coachhouse, early 19th-century. To S. of these is an attached single-storey
structure with ovolo-moulded mullioned windows, 17th-century. In the centre of the yard is a granary of two
storeys and attics and a two-storey two-room house with
chamfered mullioned windows, 17th or early 18th-century.

Dovecote (Plate 128), to N. of the hall, circular, of
coursed rubble with deep moulded ashlar cornice, brick
nesting boxes and stone-slated roof was built in 1740 for
the Earl of Westmorland by Edward Frame, mason, of
Woodnewton (NRO, W(A) 7.XV). Converted to a
water tower in the present century; the glover is now a
glazed lantern.

Fig. 24 Apethorpe (10) School

Fig. 25 Apethorpe (13) Section through barn

(3) A pair of houses, one storey and attics, class 4a
sharing a central stack; parapeted N. gable. To S. is a
two-storey class 4c house, now sub-divided. All have a
17th-century origin.

(4) The Old Post Office, two storeys, class 1b, end-on to the street, parapeted gable on the W., hipped on
the E. where it joins an adjacent range at right angles;
17th-century. Four-light mullioned window with label,
twin-flue ashlar stack. Inside, the E. room has an ovolo-moulded, wave-stopped cross beam.

(5) Wood Cottage, one storey and attics, thatched, L-shaped plan. The N. room with a wide fireplace in the
gable wall, with recesses and a'seat to one side, is 17th-century. The two-room cross wing may also be 17th-century but the internal arrangement is later.

(7) Post Office, single storey and attics, originated in
the 17th or early 18th century at the W. end of the site.
It was extended to the E. in the 18th century and again
in the 19th century when a single-storey non-domestic
range was added on the E. and a two-storey domestic
wing in stretcher bond brickwork on the S. Also in the
19th century the S. part of the original range was rebuilt
as a separate two-room tenement. An ashlar stack of at
least 18th-century date on the N. gable of this original
range serves a first-floor corner fireplace. The E. range is
18th century; the W. room was sub-divided in the early
19th century to give an entrance lobby and a small room
with counter, perhaps a former bar.

(8) Manor House (Plate 98), early 18th-century, said to
have been built for the agent to the Earls of
Westmorland (VCH, Northants. II, 543). It is of two
storeys with a basement and attics and has an L-shaped
plan with front range of class 6. The five-bay front has a
first-floor platband, two-light mullioned and transomed
windows, parapeted gables and a wooden bracketed
cornice. The central entrance has a surround simply
ornamented with channels and a central lozenge; above,
an inserted fanlight is flanked by consoles supporting a
pediment, probably reset. (Not entered)

(9) Stocks, six leg holes, iron-bound timber; also a
whipping post or post of a pillory; probably 17th-century.

(12) Row, of one storey and attics, comprises a two-room house of the 17th century, with thatched roof,
much altered in the 19th century, and to the S. a single-room house of the 18th century which was later
extended to form a class 1b dwelling. The 17th-century
house has pigeon-holes with alighting ledges occupying
much of one gable.

(13) Blue Field Lodge (TL 033964). Barn (Fig. 25),
aisled, with rubble gables and timber-framed side walls
on rubble base, thatched roof, was built by the Earl of
Westmorland in 1723. The masonry, by John Dimbleby,
cost £31.13.9. and the thatching, by Robert Bulmer,
£6.18.0. (NRO, W(A) Misc. Vol. II). The parapeted
gable walls have five tiers of ventilating slits. The roof
has two trusses with long braces which rise to tie beams
and arcade plates; above the tie beams are collars and
raking struts, and the ridge piece is held by a short collar
below it; staggered butt-purlins. Hipped-roofed porches
cover the high entrance doors.

(14) Cheeseman's Lodge (TL 019944; Fig. 26), of two
storeys, was probably built as a park-keepers' lodge in
the mid 17th century. The park was created before 1543
and enlarged in about 1620, but declined, possibly after
James I's last visit to Apethorpe. By the early 18th
century it had become grazing land and arable. In 1700
the lodge was leased to John Tookey of Apethorpe along
with 278 acres (116 hectares) of pasture and various
outbuildings including a 'deer lodge converted to a barn'
(NRO W(A) 6.XII). In 1864 the N. part was added and
the E. wing built, probably replacing an original wing
(date slab, 'WR 1864'); the style conformed with the
earlier section.

The house has always been one of high quality. The
17th-century part to the S. with its main front on the W.
has two two-storey bay windows with canted sides and
gables; the central doorway has a stone surround with
four-centred head in a rectangular frame and the
windows have ovolo-moulded mullions. A former bay
window on the S. has been replaced by a four-light flush
window re-using some of the mullions. Inside, the S.
room has a moulded axial beam with urn stops. The
stone fireplace has a four-centred opening in a
rectangular frame with a shelf. A chamfered cross beam
in the N. room has bar-stops. The staircase of 1864
incorporates symmetrically turned balusters and square
newels of the 17th century.

(15) Halefield Lodge (TL 048933), one storey and
attics, class 1a, parapeted gables, thatched roof, 17th-century; converted to two dwellings in the early 19th
century. The interior has two wide fireplaces, and cross
and axial chamfered beams.